Blackened Rabbit
by Mareessa
Summary: A continuation taking place a year after the twelfth episode of the anime's first season. Nezumi begins to have strange dreams about dying after he finds a torn piece of paper in his bedroom inviting him to a strange competition called "Juni Taisen" exactly one year ago.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Originally I just intended to write Usagi a backstory but now this has expanded to explore the character's lives and personalities more. So don't fret with the canon rewrite tag it's just for Usagi since we don't know his back story yet or Scorpio's for that matter.

Enjoy!

* * *

"What is the Juni Taisen?"

The question was innocent enough and the teen rubbed at his temples. Nezumi sat at the edge of his bed dressed in a thin T-shirt and briefs despite it being the middle of winter. He felt a lump form in his throat as he looked at the small torn bit of paper and the writing scribbled across it.

The paper had become a nuisance to him reappearing on his desk no mater how many times he threw it away, laying on top of his pillow no matter how many times he tore it apart, in his cheese and crackers in small little bits. No matter who hard he tried he couldn't find any record of the torn letter in his other ninety nine realities or anyway to destroy it for good.

And to make matters worse ever since he'd tried to burn it he began to have gives nightmares. Just the thought of them sent chills down his spine and he sat up pulling his knees to his chest. The dreams where just blurred shapes at first but with each night they began to clear and show something that you'd imagine in a horror movie.

Bodies littering a dark road. Blood spilling from his bullet pierced body. A blade stabbing him straight threw the chest as he tried to escape another possibility. They felt to real to be dreams. He had begun to think that they may have been memories from another path he took. But when he tried to look for it all that he could hear was blank and empty static.

It was almost as if the path had been removed. Deleted from his mind. The thought of it being a possibility terrified him. A friendly reminder that he still hadn't been able to gain complete control of the one hundred paths.

"Stop. Stop thinking that." He whispered feeling his anxiety grow with each tick of his alarm clock. Sweat dripped down his spine and he looked at his bedroom door.

In a few minutes his mom should be home. Like most people his age his relationship with his parents had reached it's peak teetering on the edge of strained and perfectly normal. She left him alone to do what he wanted or needed to do and he made sure to stay out of her way.

Sometimes, he wondered if she even knew of his activities as a warrior. The one hundred paths of Nezumi wasn't something that was easy to hide and even less likely to not be abused by others.

At first he didn't blame her as his father had left them when he was little and they had a hard time paying bills. However it became a strain on his mental health the longer it was used and soon he had enough. Momentarily he closed his eyes and allowed himself onto his back.

Completely exhausted from looking all that morning for the lost path Nezumi wanted to just go back to sleep. Even if it was only for a two hours or so it would be better then collapsing at the dinner table again. It was decided he would sleep on it and try to continue his search tomorrow.

"But won't that just be counterproductive?" He wondered out loud opening his eyes once again to meet the cracks in his ceiling. "Don't I want to avoid sleeping?"

He knew it was a stupid idea but he had to try. The nightmares sent him on edge whenever he woke up and left him dishevelled for what felt like hours. Endlessly searching for a way to make them stop. Refusing to lock himself in. He didn't want to do that again anytime soon.

Sleep could wait.

He licked his lips and relaxed his body. Reality itself seemed to simmer and shift as he prepared to say the killing blow. After this he'd either pass out from using his powers without sleep for to long or get physically ill. He hoped for the former.

 **"Lock in."** He said and felt his chest tighten up.

His stomach flip flopped and he felt his body weaken. Sleep was inching closer and closer every second. Nezumi didn't know what to as he'd never tried to avoid sleep before. Should he try to get up? That seemed like a good idea but a image of him falling to the ground filled his mind shattering it.

Slowly his eyes began to close as he hear-

* * *

"I don't make peace. I carry it with me."

"I've seen country after country fall."

"Cultural genocide, starvation, human inhalation before my eyes."

"Don't sell platitudes short little boy."

* * *

"Sharyu." He whispered waking up to his pillow being drenched in tears.

Tears. They continued to fall down his face as he sat up and wiped at his eyes. It had been different this time but still it left a hollow feeling when it was gone. Sniffling he got off of his bed and looked in a mirror feeling his shoulders slump in defeat.

He looked like a wreck. Snot and tears covered his face which was now splotched and tired looking. Fatigue filled his eyes as he touched a piece of his normally framed hair now tossled and sticking up in random places. He couldn't continue to live like this or it would kill him.

Moving back towards his bed he picked up the piece of paper and reread it over and over again. He needed to see if there was any clues he could find anything at all to help him find the cause of these dreams. Sweat dripped down his face as his eyes met a set of small black numbers printed at the bottom so small you could miss it.

 **Being held at** **I** **naba City.**

The words felt familiar even though he never heard of or had even seen anyone from Inaba. But if his path had led him there without his knowledge he needed to go there.

If he hurried he would be able to get dressed and find a train that could take him their before his mother got home. Hopefully it wasn't to far from where he loved or else he'd face the silver haired woman's wrath. It wouldn't be the first time he arrived home hours late.

Turning on the bathroom sink he leaned down to splash water on his face. Through the fatigue and sick feeling in his stomach a wave of relief passed threw his body. Months of feeling regret and longing would be put to a end. Finally he'd be able to retrieve whatever memories he had lost one year ago.

Wiping his face off with a towel he looked once again in the mirror. He felt as if a thousand pounds had been lift off his shoulders. Soon enough he would be free of this blockage and be able to resume his current lifestyle once again.

Soon, Nezumi thought to himself taking in a breath and grabbed his phone. I will know what exactly is the Juni Taisen.


	2. Authors Note: WE ARE NOT CANCELLED

Hey guys sorry for not updating in six months!

I have a question for you all, what would you like to see in this story and my future juuni Taisen fanfics? I already have a idea for this one but I want to know what you guys think.

First off, this will become a mature story since I will talk about the topics of rape and abuse. But would you guys like me to write it here or in a rated M version on here. It would have a different plotline since it's more mature but if you want it I will deliver!

Also Nezumi will feel pain next chapter! I already know what's gonna happen so don't worry!


	3. Chapter 2

_'No results,'_ He narrowed his eye and closed the laptop no longer wanting to look at the endless amounts of empty search engines. _'But how can that be?'_

Crossing his legs, the teen wiped at his eyes with the back of his hands feeling his body sag from exhaustion. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before mostly due to his ongoing nightmares, but also the note had over taken his mind.

All he could think about was the invitation to Inaba City and the way it had been ripped to shreds. He didn't understand why he would have no memory of receiving it or even going to the destination. His curiosity only grew as the hours ticked by and soon enough he found himself typing away at his mother's laptop with coffee being only thing that kept him going.

And all of the research, all of the leads, all of the searches had come up blank. It was almost as if Inaba City never even existed in the first place. But in the back of his mind Nezumi knew that it had to have been real, that there was no way a city could dissapear with a blink of an eye.

There where no news reports of anything happening in the city and most maps had just blank unnamed terrain where it had remained. He had searched into the government own national website and cleaned the archives open to the public out with every trick in the book he knew of and still found nothing.

But he couldn't shake the feeling that he had been _there_.

"This is insane." He mumbled rubbing at his forehead. "This is absolutely insane, am I just losing my mind?"

Growling he moves the laptop off off his lap and fell back against his bed rumbling his school shirt in the process. He didn't bother to fix it gritting his teeth as he allowed his frustration to come through. The whole situation was beginning to piss him off.

Sleeping was almost impossible with his nightmares waking him up every hour, his memory had been splotchy recently with whole days worth of time disappearing, his body felt weak and he often found himself bleeding from wounds he didn't even remember getting. It was almost if his entire body was falling apart around him and it just made him sick to his stomach.

He shivered and looked at his alarm clock. Only seventeen minutes left before he needed to get ready for school and he felt like he had been hit by a truck. His mother would kill him if she found out he skipped school and he dreaded having detention for the ninth time that year. Going in late wouldn't work either, eventually his mother would catch onto him.

 _'Goddamnit.'_ There was no other choice, he would have to go. Even his paths held the same answer with all of them ending with his suspension to his mother beating the literal shit out of him.

To school it was.

 **•••••**

Nezumi regretted his choice.

His head was held up in hands as he watched his third period teacher drone on and on about the government and Americans, typical for something as boring as world history. It felt like the world was inacting some cruel punishment on him by not allowing him to fall asleep and he silently begged for the class to end. If boredom didn't kill him first, jumping out a nearby window would.

Increasingly self deprecating thoughts had also appeared to be a side effect of what was happening to his body. He struggled to keep from completely breaking down and not even the gentle embrace of his phone didn't help. Everything felt like a tidal wave hitting him full force with all the emotions his paths could even begin to express.

And it wasn't even like he could control it no they just came to him in the most random of moments. When he sat in homeroom all he could hear was the conversation from a path he chose the week before and he had to hide in a bathroom stall until it subsided. At the end of second period he had been walking in the hallway only to remember a decision he made on his sixth birthday about picking out what outfit to wear.

The whole situation was horrifying and adrenaline inducing all at the same time. It was like he was on a bad LSD trip and the effects had only just kicked in. And to make matters worse he knew his classmates had to have noticed something was up, besides him being fully awake for once.

Everyone had been staring at him nonstop and multiple people had come to him to see if he was okay. It had only just hit him that maybe being so unsocial could really bite him in the ass instead of protecting him. He groaned again and held his head against the wall. Today was horrible and he still had three hours left before school was out.

"Now class I would like one of you to tell me what the meaning of this historical symbol. Tsugiyoshi you've been awfully quiet today so why don't you try and answer."

 _'Historical symbol what are they...'_ Nezumi's eyes landed on his textbook and his headache seemed to grow once they met the image.

 _He couldn't move. His body began to feel heavy and buckled under his weight hitting the ground. Nausea overcame the growing panic that filled his mind as he felt his fingers begin to tingle. Then his legs. Then came his arms._

 _The ground felt warm under his body began to soak itself in it's own blood. He could hardly see anything by then with his killer's heels barely visible as they connected with his head. A puddle had began to grow under his body and silently hoped someone would come to his aid._

 _But all his hope soon died out with perfectly manicured fingernails coming down and scraping against his neck. Hands that looked like they belonged to a porcelain doll choked the life out of him with there owner facing him head on._

 _Cold rage met wet desperation as the two at one another. He could taste the saliva that dropped down onto his lips as the older teen strained in there effort to kill him, almost as if the action pained them. It tastes sour, but not in a good or bad way, dampening his already blood ridden tongue with it's taste._

 _He wanted to vomit but his throat was collapsing within itself from his killer's force. Tears gathered in his eyes but they couldn't fall as it felt as if his blood vessels where going to explode. A blade sat at his side, a umbrella at his other and a fallen boot behind his head._

 _They had struggled for what felt like hours. He had barely dodged there attacks before subcoming to exhaustion while they slack from lost of adrenaline. They concrete beneath them was now full of bullet holes and displayed on a canvas of blood, body fluids and sweat._

 _Eyes. That was there power and now there greatest weak point. He hadn't been thinking as they came charging at him with there blade, he ducked and aimed the spear at them without a second thought. It was only after he opened his eyes did he release what he had done._

 _It looked kind of soupy now, the socket pooling with blood and yellow sticky puss. He was thankful that it didn't drop into him to and struggled to take in his last breath._

 _Black dots had begun to dance in front of his eyes and stars clouded his vision. His thoughts became mushy as he felt all of his paths shutter and collapse within themselves as they lost there host. He felt them all form into one, that moment, and closed his eyes allowing him lungs to burn within him once again._

"Tsugiyoshi!" Nezumi shuttered and wrapped his arms around himself his face wet as tears fell onto the textbook pages. "Tsugiyoshi are you okay!?"

"Tsugiyoshi-kun?"

"Maybe somebody should go get the nurse."

"Sensei he's not playing around! He looks so pale!"

Looking up from his textbook he met the worried gazes of his classmates and teacher. His hands felt clammy, with his breathing labored with each breath he took. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get away from these...these horrible memories.

 **Authors Note: this sucks so bad**


End file.
